rory wrote:Of course, no one yet has explained to me why Kannon sama has a woman's body. It's amazing how for thousands of years, monks have been and still tell women that they need a man's body to be born in the Pure Land, but let a woman say she's keeping hers. The arguing! To me as a woman, it's proof of a deep-seated sexism that resists woman or wants them to be neutered to be 'acceptable.' And of course such talk could put off people who want to go to Sukhavati.

Not all accounts have Kannon or Mahasthamapratpa as female...most translations of the contemplation Sutra I've seen describe both as male. I'm just not sure there is enough solid evidence to say they are female or male conclusively.

To me gender simply doesn't matter. We are all the colour of pure gold, all of one appearance, all equal in beauty.I think once we get there, gender is a non issue.

As for getting there:From the Amida Sutra:"Shariputra, if a good man or woman who hears of Amida Buddha holds fast to his Name even for one day, two days, three, four, five, six or seven days with a concentrated and undistracted mind, then, at the hour of death, Amida Buddha will appear before them with a host of holy ones. Consequently, when their life comes to an end, the aspirants' minds will not fall into confusion and so they will be born immediately in the Land of Utmost Bliss of Amida Buddha."

Actually Chun Fang Yu's Kuan Yin: the Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara Columbia University Press, says it all. Avalokitesvara changed sexes sometime in China.Scholars don't know when. Probably out of compassion to women; to show them they can be enlightened with our precious female bodies.gasshoRory

Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu Chih-I:The Tai-ching states "the women in the realms of Mara, Sakra and Brahma all neither abandoned ( their old) bodies nor received (new) bodies. They all received buddhahood with their current bodies (genshin)" Thus these verses state that the dharma nature is like a great ocean. No right or wrong is preached (within it) Ordinary people and sages are equal, without superiority or inferiority Paul, Groner "The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture"eds. Tanabe p. 58

The life elements are for the functioning of the heart, sex, evolution and food process, i.e. acquiring food for the growth and maintenance of the body. In lower beings, both sex elements (male and female) are active and produce offspring of the same mould. In higher beings, only one sex element is active, while the other, though dormant, acting as a preventive against other units of mind to come and share the same body. However when two similar beings of different active sex elements come into contact, the two different dormant sex elements are not active. The two beings can cooperate and produce offspring of the common mould with an active sex elements come into contact, the two different dormant sex elements are not active. The two beings can cooperate and produce offspring of the common mould with an active sex element and a dormant sex element according to the kamma of the new being.